Ghost’s Tobias Forge Explains Why He Likes Touring So Frequently

Different bands have different touring routines. Some head out on the road for years at a time even when they don’t have any new music to promote, while others only play shows after releasing a new album. Ghost have been touring pretty consistently for the last decade, and Tobias Forge has opened up and explained why he likes touring so frequently.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many artists to go on a break from touring. According to Setlist.fm, Ghost’s last official concert was March 3 of 2020. But prior to that, they toured every year since 2010, so 2021 was the first year they haven’t played an actual concert in 10 years.

“I’m trying not to be too business about this, and I’m definitely not throwing anyone under the bus here, but I think what bands are struggling with — and I know this because not only am I myself in a band or a project like this, but I also have a lot of friends who are in bands that have kind of different formations and different set ups — there’s not always a perfect alignment between what one guy in the band and the rest wants to do,” Forge told Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez.

“It’s not uncommon that you have someone in the band that might be a little bit more creatively occupied, writes more music than others and sort of spends more energy on creating things wanting to maybe play a little bit less, whereas you have the people in the band that might not be that creative but they depend on the paycheck and want the band to play more,” he added.

The vocalist argued that this concept is very common within bands, and that there’s nothing wrong with different people holding different roles and having varying goals. However, there does come a point where a group needs to decide whether they are in the band as a hobby, or because they want it to be their career.

“Disregard the COVID thing, but in modern times, there are a lot of bands that at some point or another have had to make the choice, are we a hobby band or are we a real band, like [with] touring? And usually that sets bands apart pretty quickly, because once you’ve sort of burnt the boat of having a daytime job, you’re depending on money coming in,” he added.

The rocker explained that once a band becomes a person’s full-time job, there’s a pretty similar cycle that they’ll get into that a lot of other bands share — making records, going on tour and playing festivals in certain locations at certain times of year.

“Some people love it, some people do not. If I’m just speaking from my end, I’ve always to some degree lived a somewhat transient lifestyle, and I’m talking even going back to where I had divorced parents. I was naturally sort of always seeing a week-to-week sort of basis, and I had to travel and go away, come home, go away, come home, and then when I started having friends when you get to that age where you start spending nights over at friends’ houses, I found myself living on couches for years,” he continued.

“When I started touring, it felt very natural to be on tour. It’s almost like having sea-legs. If you like touring, it’s hard not to like moving all the time.”

To hear the full interview, tune into Loudwire Nights tonight at 7PM ET.

Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez airs nightly starting at 7PM ET. You can tune in anytime, from anywhere right here or by downloading the Loudwire app.